This year
marks the 50th anniversary of the release of
the original Mars Attacks trading cards from the famous
Topps company. The images were pretty graphic for 1962, with
lots
of blood and more than a little sexual innuendo. You know the rest of
the story, since it plays out over and over - parents get upset,
company tries editing them, ends up forced to pull them from the market.

Since
then, we've seen comics, new cards, and even a movie based on this
sketchy early concept. Mezco picked up the license for the anniversary,
and they are producing this sixth inch scale figure based on the
original card designs.

He's just starting to ship, and you should be able to find him in that
$16 price range depending on the retailer.

Packaging - ***1/2
While these are pretty standard bubble/cardback packages, they do emote
the original style and feel of the cards themselves. With a similar
font and graphics lifted right from the early release (that image of
the Martian on the front is from card #1), they do a great job selling
the nostalgia of the license.

Sculpting - ****
I tried to find something to complain about here - I came up with
almost zero.

But
you know me - I can always find something. There are a few annoying
mold lines from the manufacturing process that mar the otherwise
excellent green costume. That's it though, and that's not much.

I
love the head sculpt, and the bulbous head and bulging eyes look
amazing. The overall appearance is a little different than the film
version, with skinnier arms and legs, and a bit more height. But it's a
great look, and does match up with the Topps cards extremely well.

The hands are sculpted to hold
the accessories, and he stands great on his own with little effort.

He
stands almost exactly 6" tall, which means he works pretty well with
most 6 - 7" figures from other lines, especially Marvel Legends.

Paint - ***1/2
The colors
on the face and head look great, with a nice transition between the
various shades. It's a smidge gloppy here and there, but it's fairly
minor.

While
the cut lines are quite clean, there are a few rub marks and stray
spots on the body. Still, this is an above average paint job, and
better than average for the price point.

Articulation - ***
Mezco
did a nice job hiding the articulation on this guy, giving you much
more than you might realize when he's still in the package.

The neck is a cut joint, turning
left to right. The entire head and helmet turn as one to accomplish
this.

There's
ball jointed (pin/disc style) shoulders and hips, and these work fairly
well. They were a little limited, but I was able to get most poses that
I wanted.

The pin elbows and knees went a
long way toward that, and three's also cut joints at the top of the
gloves and boots.

This
is enough articulation to get some good poses, and he stands just fine
on his own. I do wish the arms had some sort of cut joint either at the
elbow or the shoulder to allow the hands to come closer together in
front of the body. That way he could have held the rifle in both hands.
It's a minor quibble, but one worth noting.

Accessories - ***1/2
As I
mentioned, these figures are based on the original trading cards, and
that's evident in the weapons. There's three - the small blaster, rifle
blaster and 'ray stick'. You can see a card showing the rifle blaster here,
and I'm betting if you go through them all you'll find examples of the
other two as well.

While
these weapons aren't as funky or detailed as those that were in the
movie, you have to give Mezco credit for sticking with the classic
look. They are a good match to the card set, with nice sculpts if
somewhat basic paint jobs.

The guns fit in his hands just fine,
but as I mentioned in the articulation section, the lack of any turning
joint on the arms means he can't hold one gun in both hands at the same
time.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
Kids
love monsters - that was the problem with the original series. The gore
and mayhem, along with the cool creature design, was a bit TOO
appealing to kids, or so some parents felt.

This is still a great
creature design, and while few kids today will be familiar with the
cards, they might have a familiarity with the Tim Burton film.

The somewhat disguised
articulation works well too, and the various guns adds that necessary
conflict aspect to the figure.

Value - ***
This is a nice change of pace - you're getting what you pay for with
this guy. I'm assuming you won't pay more than $16, and at that price
point you're getting several accessories and a very well designed 6"
figure. It's tough to get all that even at Wal-mart for this price.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing!

Overall - ***1/2
I have to admit it - it wasn't the cards
that got me interested in this license. And while I really do love the
goofy Burton flick, it was actually the Dark Horse comics that enticed
me.

This figure is an excellent
representation of the Martian,
and because of his scale he'll go great with the general horror/sci-fi
display. He's also a solid value, with much more useful articulation
than you'd expect.

I do wish we could get a couple
more
characters, but that's more from a movie perspective than a card
perspective...guess it's not too likely.